Almost Lover
by aishababy
Summary: Prequel to the series. Before Wolfram became the clingy unfavored prince of Shin Makoku, when he was a healer and loved a human. Before life and death made him change into what he is now. If you like this please review.


Alphonse sighed as he traced Wolfram's face, amazed by the ethereal being he held in his arms, humming softly as the wind rustled the palm trees, the sand clinging to their skin and hair. Wolfram looked up, his bright emerald eyes glimmering as he shifted in Alphonse's arms.

"What's wrong, you look so sad." Alphonse smiled down at the Wolfram gently brushing sand from the prince's white healer uniform, memorizing the feel of the petite form fitted to his side.

_Your fingertips across my skin  
The palm trees swaying in the wind  
Images  
_

"I have recieved my orders from your brother....He has requested my presence at the front." Wolfram frowned, his body stiffening as Alphonse tightened his hold around him, anything to keep him close for a little longer, to keep this feeling from leaving so soon.

"Come now, Wolfram you know it is my duty to protect my home...To keep you safe. Don't be this way, not when I'm about to leave."

_You sang me Spanish lullabies  
The sweetest sadness in your eyes  
Clever trick_

Wolfram stood there, watching as Alphonse dressed in the somber blue uniform, his arms reaching up as the soldier turned toward him. Embracing the pair fell to the floor, Wolfram shaking as he cried into Alphonse's chest. "It's only for a short while, you'll hardly notice I'm even gone."

Alphonse sighed as his beloved curled tighter into his arms, knowing that by leaving Wolfram, he was really leaving home.

_I never want to see you unhappy  
I thought you'd want the same for me _

Alphonse swung into his horse's saddle glancing toward the doors of the castle, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the blond beauty he was leaving to fight for. He sighed as moments went by and Wolfram did not appear, discouraged he and his platoon rode out of the courtyard. As they neared the gates, the moon illuminated the lone figure at the entrance, Wolfram stood shivering from the cold and his suppressed tears, reaching up as Alphonse recognized him, lifting him up and craddling him against his chest, both saying their goodbyes.

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do  
_

Wolfram arrived back at the castle drenched by a sudden downpour of rain as Alphonse rode through the gates of the city, both feeling a sense of dread as miles began to seperate them, each wrapped in memories of times they had shared.

_We walked along a crowded street  
You took my hand and danced with me  
Images  
_

Alphonse arrived at the castle in time ot surprise Wolfram on his birthday. Watching as his face lit up when he presented the blond prince with a simple goold wedding band, and was startled a moment later when he was slapped in response, glad for this chance at a life with Wolfram.

_And when you left you kissed my lips  
You told me you would never let forget these images, no_

Wolfram stood before Alphonse clutching an envelops with the seal of Shin Makoku in his hand, his eyes welling with tears as his fiance gently pried the letter from his hands. "Don't go. Please...Don't leave me here alone again."

It broke Alphonse's heart to see his beloved like this, but he had to return to his post, with, or without Wolfram's wedding vows, ringing in his ears. "Wait for me?"

"Always."

_I never want to see you unhappy  
I thought you'd want the same for me  
_

Conrad stood before his family, his face a mask of indifference as the seamstress packed away her bag and left the room, leaving the royal family alone. Wolfram actually smiled lightly fingering the hem of the traditional marriage robes that the seamstress left for him, before looking up at Conrad. The soldier frowned, kneeling down infront of his petite sibling gingerly taking Wolfram's finely boned hand into his own calloused and scarred ones. "Wolfram....I'm so sorry I have to tell you this, but Alphonse was killed in the line of duty, protecting a small group of healers to the borders."

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do  
_

Wolfram's world collapsed, he wandered about the castle looking for any remaining trace of his fiancee, sometimes stomping and shouting his name until he realized he there wouldn't be an answer. It was then he grieved in silence, his cries reaching the gardens outside somedays. Wolfram emerged only to attend his fallen soldier's memorial service, pale and withdrawn, a meer shadow of his former self, he stood by the statue of his love. Alphonse's wedding band, having been engraved with the traditional words of 'Death doth part us, until we meet again.', rested on the fallen soldier's ring finger. The sand of the sea blooming into everyone's eyes as Wolfram kissed the stone hand before being guided away by Gwendal.

_I cannot go to the ocean  
I cannot drive the streets at night  
I cannot wake up in the morning  
Without you on my mind  
So you're gone and I'm haunted  
And I bet you are just fine  
Did I make it that easy  
To walk right in and out of my life?  
_

Wolfram looked at himself in his white uniform, sickened by the fact that Alphonse had died fighting, so he could come home and marry something so helpless as a healer. What good was he if he couldn't protect the ones he loved? What right did he have to remain so innocent when out on the battlefield people younger than him were tainted with blood everyday? Angry with himself for such weakness, Wolfram tore the offending clothing from his body til the uniform layin rags at his feet. "I don't want this....this weakness anymore. I don't want to sit back and watched as people I know are killed."

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do  
_

Wolfram sat infront of the memorial, his blue uniform stiff and uncomfortable in its newness. The sword on his hip cold and heavy like the unfamiliar heart beating in his chest. The rain poured down the small back, warm like the once living soldier now buried in the ground, the weather reflecting the power of two beloveds. Wolfram knew he wasn't the only one who lost someone dear. He knew that he should be trying to help them overcome their grief, but he just couldn't bring himself to care about them, not right now, not when his human fiancee was lying dead because of a war. No...Not now but tomorrow if he felt up to it, maybe in time. He sighed tracing the script that ran along the top edge of the statue's foundation, words that Alphonse said when he presented Wolfram with a wedding ring, pledging his eternal love, devotion and support, and also as a reminder to Wolfram of the fate he would one day face of his human love leaving before him.

_**To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.**_

Tears welled im Wolfram's eyes as the rain stopped, feeling the weight for the first time. "No, wait. Come back please come back. Alphonse don't leave me here alone....Please...don't go." For a brief second Wolfram felt the warmth of his fiancee's arms wrap around him, before the warm arms left him and he was cold again.


End file.
